Have you ever asked a job applicant how old they are? If you have, you might be breaking the law. A leading Singapore employment lawyer looks at which interview questions could land you in hot water.

Singapore ranks first in the world as a startup ecosystem in terms of talent, according to a large-scale survey by Startup Genome. In its “2017 Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking,” the organisation attributed the city-state’s top spot in talent to “strong performance in Access and Cost sub-factors.”

“The experience levels of Singaporean Talent is comparably strong, given that 80% of the Engineering and 74% of the Growth teams have gained at least two years of prior startup experience already.”

Singapore also placed 12th in the overall ranking, dropping from 10th last year due to two new Chinese entrants – No. 4 Beijing and No. 8 Shanghai.

Startup Genome said Singapore lies in a strategic location in the region that renders it an “easy access point” for up-and-coming tech markets in Asia. It also said 1,600-2,400 tech startups in the city-state enjoy significant government subsidies.

“The government launched 13.2 billion R&D Initiative, and merged two tech-oriented agencies into the unified GovTech, which oversees key regulatory frameworks and the delivery of digital services.”

“To further accelerate the development of a mature venture capital landscape, the government also launched schemes that match early-stage VC funds on a one-to-one basis,” it added.

The organisations said Singapore implemented “innovative and aggressive policies” in the 1990s to spur the growth of its startup ecosystem. It values the ecosystem at US$11bn, compared to the US$4.1bn global average.

“There is some concern in the Funding Index where Singapore’s Early-Stage Funding growth is falling behind its peers, however, with some of the strongest Tech Talent in the world every problem should be seen as a challenge,” the organisation said.

The city-state’s start-up founders are the youngest in the world, with a median of 28 years. Only 12% are women, compared to the global average of 16%. Singapore has the 6th highest percentage of immigrant founders in the world at 35%.